T HE R EALIZATIONS OF THE C HRISTIAN Romans 7:14-8:2 Page 961 in Pew Bibles

THE REALIZATIONS OF THE THE REALIZATIONS OF THE CHRISTIANCHRISTIAN

Romans 7:14-8:2Page 961 in Pew Bibles

Romans 7:14-8:2Page 961 in Pew Bibles

14. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power.

15. For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.

16. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

17. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.

18. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.

19. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.

20. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me.

21. So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me.

22. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law.

23. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.

24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

26. Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,

27. because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

THE REALIZATIONS OF THE THE REALIZATIONS OF THE CHRISTIANCHRISTIAN

Romans 7:14-8:2Page 961 in Pew Bibles

William HendriksenWilliam Hendriksen

Introduction

“…For the present, the Christian is living in an era in which two ages, the old and the new, overlap. There was a time when Paul was exclusively a sinner. There will be a time when he will be exclusively a saint. Right now, as he is dictating this letter, he is a sinner-saint. A saint to be sure, but also still a sinner; hence the tension, the inner conflict. It is a struggle every true believer experiences…”

What I KnowWhat I Know

• Vs. 14 “For we know that the law is spiritual…”• NLT: “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is

spiritual and good.”• Vs. 16 “I agree with the law that it is good.”

I. . >

• Vs. 15 “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.”

II.

What I DoWhat I Do

. >

What I WantWhat I Want

• Vs. 18 “…For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.”

• Vs. 19 “For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.”

III. . >

What I See In MyselfWhat I See In Myself

• Vs. 17 “So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.”

• Vs. 20 “Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me”

IV. >

• Vs. 21 “So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me.”

IV.

What I See In MyselfWhat I See In Myself

>

• Vs. 23 “But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.”

IV.

What I See In MyselfWhat I See In Myself

>

• Vs. 25 “So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.”

IV.

What I See In MyselfWhat I See In Myself

. >

What I Can DoWhat I Can Do

• Vs. 14 “…I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power”

V. Def >

What I Can DoWhat I Can Do

• Vs. 14 “…I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power”

V.

Me – God = FleshWhat I am in my own natural

resources, apart from the supernatural work of God.

>

• Vs. 18 “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.”

V.

What I Can DoWhat I Can Do

>

J. I. Packer: Spiritual RealismJ. I. Packer: Spiritual Realism

1. When God called us to be Christians, he called us to a lifetime of struggle against sin

2. We are never going to achieve victory by ourselves3. When we triumph over sin, it is by the power of

the Spirit (we are still unprofitable servants)4. We are to continue struggling against sin

V. . >

What I AmWhat I Am

• Vs. 24 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

• Isaiah 6:5 “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

VI. >

What I AmWhat I Am

• Philip Doddridge on his deathbed: “The best prayer I ever offered up in my life deserves damnation.”

• Finally, God has us right where He wants us!

VI. . >

Who Has Rescued MeWho Has Rescued Me

• Vs. 24 “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

• Tennyson: “O for a new man to arise within me and subdue the man that I am.”

• Vs. 25 “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

VII. >

Who Has Rescued MeWho Has Rescued Me

• [Czar]• 8:1-2 “Therefore, no condemnation now exists

for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

VII. . .